Individuals are continuously looking for new and better ways to express themselves. Whether ostentatious or modest, jewelry has long been the sinew of individualized artistic expression. Sporting a jewelry piece carries with it many connotations, ranging from unsophisticated to bourgeois and functional to fanciful. The manifestation of expression, coupled with the interpretations of that expression, is what makes jewelry such a prized possession. An individual can make a strong statement by artfully exploiting interpretations of expressive form and reducing them to a jewelry piece for display. A problem with most jewelry, however, is the lack of versatility. A jewelry piece is typically designed to make a single, or at least a very narrow, statement. It would be advantageous to have a jewelry piece that provides the versatility of making different statements, but without detracting from the perception of uniqueness. It would be further advantageous to enable a jewelry piece to display personalized messages in an artistic fashion, and interchange such messages at the discretion of the user. The development of the present invention fulfills this need.
The invention is a device used to retain and display a media panel, such as a piece of paper bearing a reading. It is envisioned for the device to be used as a portion of a bracelet and worn about a user's wrist, ankle, or arm. The device comprises a two-member configuration, wherein a flexible film member is affixed to an inner surface of a rigid member. The inner surface has a curvilinear shape that is exploited to manipulate the film member into a convex bow shape or a concave bow shape. In a convex shape, the film exposes the inner surface so that a media panel may be inserted between the film and inner surface. In a concave shape, the film abuts the inner surface and retains the media panel that has been inserted. It is envisioned for the flexible film member and the rigid member to comprise a transparent material so as to display any writing or markings of the media panel.
Prior art in this field consists of bracelets and necklaces with interchangeable pendants and ornamental pieces. This prior art has a base structure that serves as the bracelet or necklace, and is provided with a fastening means to removably attach various designer ornaments to a surface of the base structure. Other prior art consists of bracelets and necklaces made from a plurality of interchangeable linkages that enable users to change the appearance of the jewelry piece by substituting one (1) linkage for another.
It is an objective of this invention to improve the versatility of a jewelry piece without detracting from its uniqueness by providing an ornamental device to be used as a piece of jewelry that enables a user to personalize the jewelry at the discretion of the user.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a means to retain and display a media panel bearing personalized messages within the device.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a means to quickly and easily interchange the retained medial panel at the discretion of the user.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a border to a portion of the device that serves as a decoration and an open-assist to improve functionality.